Can I Ask You Something Ron Style
by RHrJamJavaJunkiePrincess2010
Summary: Threepart story set during the missing nineteen years. The trio is off to Hogwarts to give their annual Fighting the Dark Arts lecture, but Ron's got more important and nerveracking things on his mind...please R&R!
1. Ron's POV

Twenty-three-year-old Ron Weasley sighed and looked up from his paperwork for what must have been the fiftieth time that afternoon. All-in-all, he thoroughly enjoyed working with George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but somehow, whenever it was time for taxes to be paid, it was he who was stuck going through the several boxes of receipts. It was especially hard to concentrate on this particular afternoon because he had just spent the majority of his lunch hour with Hermione having lunch in a muggle café that was a favorite of hers. The part of his lunch hour that was not with Hermione had been spent in the new jewelry story in Diagon Alley, examining their single-stone rings….

Deciding that thinking about earlier events of the day was not getting his work done, he looked down at the next receipt (two extendable ears and one love potion, most likely purchased by a young witch from Hogwarts) and began to copy down how much money they had received. Ron smiled as he thought that this little voice in his head sounded remarkably like Hermione's, and proceeded to look up from his work yet again and stare into the picture of her on his desk. Over the years, Hermione's bushy brown hair had lost some of its old frizz and became more of a cascade of stubbornly unruly curls that fell a few inches past her shoulders. In the picture, she was constantly turning around and holding up her hands like she did not want her picture taken, but was grinning and laughing all the same. Her light brown eyes were sparkling as though they were engaged in a conversation with Ron's that only he could understand.

Staring at her picture, Ron absentmindedly took a small, black velvet box out of a drawer of his desk and began to stroke it with is finger, thinking of what it contained. The thought simultaneously thrilled and terrified him. He'd do it next week, Ron decided, when he, Harry, and Hermione would be traveling on the Hogwarts express with the students returning from their Easter holidays to go to the school and give their annual talk to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. No, he hadn't exactly planned out all of the details, but hopefully things would fall into place when he was able to have a couple minutes alone with her when they were in a place where they had spent so many hours of their youth…

"Hey Ron!" Ron was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of George's voice from the front of the store. "You finished those taxes yet?!"

"Almost!" Ron yelled back, scowling as he dipped his quill and began to attempt to the digits from yet another receipt to the previous count. Math never was his strong point. _Maybe Hermione had enjoyed math when she was a kid, she always liked sensible and logical things like that. The only exception, _Ron thought to himself, _was when she kissed him out of the blue in the middle of the battle of Hogwarts._

Any thoughts or opinions? This is my first "original" writing in a few months, so I'm concerned as to how it turned out. Please review! Praise is always loved and accepted, and _constructive_ criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	2. Hermione's POV

Hermione Granger groaned inwardly again as yet another compartment of the Hogwarts Express turned out to hold students and neither her boyfriend nor his best friend. Despite her frustration, she had to smile to herself at the thought of that word.

_Boyfriend_.

She'd waited nearly seven long years since meeting him before being able to give him that title. From the moment she laid eyes on him, there was just something about him…about his deep, mesmerizing, impossibly dark blue eyes that made his emotions so easy to read, the perfect placement of each of his dark freckles, and his casually messy red hair that had a certain enticing scent to it. She knew that there was something different about her friendship with Ron in their third year when they constantly bickered about their pets…she'd never let him know it, but every time he did something that simply infuriated her, she always forgave him on the inside. _Always_.

She knew that she loved him in their fourth year when along came Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. She couldn't bear the thought of Ron having anything to do with another girl that he wasn't related to. Every time Ron became misty-eyed while looking at her, it made her feel insecure, wondering why she wasn't good enough. But Viktor, apparently, did think she was good enough. He was the first guy to ever clearly display his affections for her, and yet when he kissed her, she couldn't help feeling like there should have been something more there, some kind of spark. She liked him, she really did, but something was missing. There was always something about Ron that she needed, something about him that she couldn't live without, something that really completed her. In their sixth year, there was the whole Lavender fiasco that she didn't even want to _think_ about, but once it had all cleared up, things finally started to fall into place. Though he had always had the capability, Ron finally started to always be there for her. He was the one who could console her like no one else. He always knew just what to say to make her melt, no matter how cliché it might have sounded. Sometimes she wondered if he had a book where he had gotten those phrases from, but that thought made him all the more adorable. And then when she kissed him…she knew everything would be all right. There was no chance that anything could go wrong. From that one kiss, she knew that they would always be together, and that they were in love. _They were in love._ The sound of that was even more wonderful than knowing that they were publicly known as a couple. Still completely absorbed with her thoughts of Ron, Hermione checked another compartment, which turned out to be occupied by two slightly older students who were bodies were intertwined. Hermione apologized as she quickly slid the door closed, cursing slightly under her breath.

"_Damn over-working job_."

Harry and Ron had each been able to get off of work that morning so that they would be able to get to King's Cross with time to spare, but Hermione's job had required her to work until the last possible minute, meaning that she was unable to apparate to Platform 9 ¾ until 10:58. Therefore, she just barely made it onto the train before it took off for Hogwarts. She scanned the corridor in front of her once more and her eyes finally lit up as she saw Harry emerge from a compartment a few doors down. She hurried towards him and hugged him.

"Thank God! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Hermione exclaimed. "Oh, it's so good to see you! I'm sorry we haven't been able to talk for ages, I've just been so busy with work lately!" She said in a rush. "Where's Ron? And what about Ginny? Was she able to come?"

"Slow down, Hermione," Harry said, half-laughing. "No, Ginny couldn't make it, her team really needed to practice today because of their upcoming match against the Tutshill Tornadoes, but she wanted to come."

"That's a shame. At any rate, have you seen Ron?" Hermione persisted. She couldn't help noticing that Harry looked somewhat hesitant at this.

"Er, yeah, he's in there, but Hermione…" He started.

"What?" Hermione said, frowning slightly.

"Er…d'you remember which compartment this is?" He said slowly. Hermione looked at it. Nothing seemed to be unusual.

"No…why?" She asked suspiciously. Harry shook his head.

"No reason…I'll, erm, see you later then," Harry said, turning around and beginning to walk in the other direction. Hermione stopped him.

"Wait, where're you going?" She asked him. "You're not sitting with us?"

"What? Oh, er, no, I…I was going to find another compartment, if that's all right, I'll just…leave the two of you alone," Harry said, trying to back away.

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry, there's nothing wrong with you sitting with us, we're still the same three-some, Ron and I aren't like Bill and Fleur, you know," Hermione said, laughing. Harry didn't smile.

"No, really, I'll just see you when we arrive, then, shall I?" Before Hermione could protest, he had already turned around and was entering another compartment much further down. Hermione rolled her eyes and slid open the door of the compartment.

Ron was sitting on the seat to her right against the wall of the train, looking out the window, apparently lost in thought. Hermione smiled to herself. Ron wasn't usually the type to be "lost in thought," but recently he had seemed to have more on his mind than usual. When they'd had dinner the previous evening at the Burrow, he hadn't been…unfriendly…but he'd barely spoken to her and seemed preoccupied.

"Hey, you," Hermione said as she sat down opposite him. Ron looked up and grinned at her in greeting but then resumed looking out the window, as though he was in concentration. Hermione bit her lip and made a stab at conversation.

"Things going well at the shop?" She asked somewhat cautiously. He nodded and she sighed. It was so odd, forcing herself to make conversation with Ron. Normally conversation flowed between the two of them more easily than she had felt it flow with any other person she had ever met, even more than Ginny, her best friend, on most occasions.

"Look, Ron, something's bothering you, you need to tell me what it is," Hermione said. She slowly added, "What is it? You know you can tell me anything." Ron continued to look out the window. Hermione was about to lean back in her seat before he said abruptly, "Do you remember which compartment this is?" Hermione's brow furrowed and she stood up and sat next to Ron.

"No…why? Harry asked me too…" Ron finally turned and looked at her.

"It's the compartment that Harry and I were sitting in on our first time going to Hogwarts. The one where you came in and interrupted us, looking for Neville's toad," He reminded her, his voice unusually soft and tender. Hermione laughed softly.

"Really? The compartment where first met?"

"And you told me I had dirt on my nose," Ron said with a slight grin.

"Funny how I don't remember that," Hermione said, leaning in and kissing him. He began to kiss back for a few minutes before he suddenly stood up in front of her. Hermione frowned slightly. Ron was acting rather odd; he seemed to be bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and he refused to make eye contact.

"Ron, what is it?" She asked nervously. "Something's been going on, could you just tell me what it is?"

"I, erm, no, see, Hermione, the thing is…" Ron took a deep breath, and then exhaled quickly as his eyes finally met hers. "No…nothing's wrong…which compartment did you put your things in? I'll go get them.

"The compartment on the left, third from the front, but Ron–"

"Great, I'll be right back," He said, dashing out of the compartment. Hermione sighed out of frustration and leaned back in her seat, wondering what in the world could possibly be wrong with him.

Hey everyone! I'm REALLY sorry that this chapter took me a few days to get up, I really don't have an excuse, but I've got it up now! I'm really thrilled about the response that I got from all of the reviews I got! This chapter is much longer and more interesting in my opinion, so I hope you enjoyed it! The third and final chapter will be up in two or three days, most likely. This story is set in April of 2003. There was no real place to mention it, but Harry and Ginny were recently married, Harry's an Auror, Hermione has just started working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and I'm going with the storyline that Ron started working with George instead of being an Auror, because it didn't really sound like him. Anyways, please review!


	3. The Room of Requirement

"_All's fair in love and war, and this is a bit of both." _Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Okay, before I give you the last installment in this little three-shot, I'd like to give a shout out to each reviewer and a disclaimer:

**Disclaimer:**(Looks around room) Hm…no, I don't own a plasma TV nor an iPhone nor a hot tub, which must mean that I don't _Harry Potter_, because if I did, I would be a billionaire and most certainly own those things.

**Avanell:** Ah, no, but it's in this chapter!!!

**A Bit Closer Johnny:** 'Ello! Glad you like it! It gets cuter! (IMO)

**SweetiePie1019:** Ah, how very true, though at no offense to you nor I, it's not all that original a storyline, is it? I'm a sucker for fluff as well…thank you so much for reading, I'm so happy that you are enjoying it!

**The-missing-arm-of-krum:** Lol, nice penname. Here's the next chapter! Hope you like! Thanks for reviewing!

**Ibelieveintruelove:** Hi! I'm really glad that you like it so far! Yeah, I was really pleased with JKR's answers to the job questions as well, they really seemed to fit the characters. Quite frankly, Ron and Hermione are in fact THE cutest couple I have ever laid my eyes on, fictional or non. Yes, even my beloved Will and Elizabeth come in second to our favorite wizarding pair (see penname, lol). Hope you like what I did, here's the final installment!

**Kchan88:** Hi! Thanks for checking this out! Lol, yes, poor Hermione…well, boys will be boys. In some ways I think she knows some parts of Harry and Ron are the same as they were on their first day of First Year…lol. Thanks for reviewing!

**BrightestStarOLeo: **Yes, I know, cliffhangers can be the most annoying thing on earth sometimes, but they usually go with the flow of the story sometimes…notice how almost all of the chapters in HP end with a cliffhanger. My writing isn't even close to one percent as good as JKR's, but just saying. Here you go!

**Mariarenee14: **Thank you, thank you. Hope you like this new chapter!

**JoeBob1379: **Well, no, Hermione _does_ remember where they met and what happened, she was just joking when she said that she didn't seem to remember saying the dirt bit. She doesn't remember the exact compartment number because she wasn't actually in the compartment for more than a couple minutes, but Harry and Ron would remember because it was the first compartment that they were ever in on the Hogwarts Express, which seems like a big deal.

**Thyrin: **Lol, yes, I am proud! Thank you! Well, yes, he was planning on proposing in the

car where they first met, but, as you saw, things didn't really work out. Yes, the second

two chapters are a bit different from the first because there's actual dialogue. Hope you

like this final installment!

**MitsukixTakuto 4 ever: **Here's the update! I'm glad you like the story so far! Enjoy!

* * *

"So _you're_ saying that You-Know-Who was defeated only because an idiot like you was lucky enough to think of fangs in the Chamber of Secrets at the last possible second?" A scrawny, dark-haired boy with an obnoxious voice sitting in the second row asked loudly as Ron concluded his story on how the fourth Horcrux was destroyed. Ron opened his mouth furiously to retort, but sensing danger, Hermione quickly interrupted him.

"No, the point is that you never stop brainstorming ideas, no matter how strange they may be, trust your friends for help, and always go with your instincts," Hermione said quickly, glancing at Ron, whose face relaxed at the sound of her reassuring voice.

Since the war, Ron had matured in several ways, one being that he was actually rather good with kids. However, this one third year had been particularly rude to the entire trio, and Ron found his old impatience and annoyance returning every time the teenager opened his mouth.

"And is it true that after you returned from the Chamber of Secrets you ran back to the Room of Requirement, he wanted to save the house elves, which was something you wanted him to do for ages, and you finally kissed him?" A girl with curly, sandy hair in the first row said to Hermione in a voice that suggested that nothing could possibly be more romantic. All of the other girls nodded enthusiastically. Hermione blushed.

"Well...yes, that part is true, though I wasn't really sure how many people knew about that," Hermione said, laughing nervously.

"My mum plays Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies with Ginny Potter," The girl explained.

"So anyway, would you mind giving us a demonstration? I mean, if you ask me, it's rather unbelievable that the smartest witch of your generation would ever go for Harry Potter's loser sidekick," the boy jeered. Ron glared fiercely at him.

"I really think that's a bit–" Hermione started to say before Ron cut her off by taking her in his arms and kissing her passionately on the mouth. A lot of the boys started whistling. For the first few moments she was kissing back, but soon she seemed to come to her senses and fought to break away. When she had finally taken his arms off of her, she was looking at him with an expression that was somewhere between shock, anger, and hurt.

"And _you_," The first boy said, turning his head to Harry. "Right before the war, didn't you dump _your_ girlfriend? I've seen pictures of her, the chick's hotter than the blonde chick in that muggle football film that came out last year."

"Right, first of all, we _temporarily_ split up for her own safety, and secondly, _that chick_ is my _wife_, so I would appreciate it if you never spoke of her again that way, all right?" Harry said, trying to control his rising temper. "Okay class, I think we've pretty much covered everything you need to know, so why don't you go down for dinner a bit early?" The class clapped, stood up, picked up there books, and began to leave the room, chattering with their friends.

"So…shall we go down to dinner, then?" Ron said, taking notice of Hermione's expression.

"No," said Harry, somewhat firmly, either not noticing or pretending to ignore the look on Hermione's face. "I'll go down, why don't the two of you take another route?" Ron opened his mouth to object, looking rather pale, but Hermione spoke.

"Yes," She agreed, looking daggers at Ron. "Yes, I think we'd better take a little walk, Ronald." She began to walk briskly towards the exit.

"Harry, _not now_," Ron whispered pleadingly under his breath.

"Yes, now," Harry muttered back. "It's now or never, you've got everything ready, and she's going to say '_yes_,' you know she is!"

"No she–"

"_RON!_" Hermione yelled from the doorway. Harry pushed Ron forward to stumbled and then hurried to catch up with her. They began to walk up one of the staircases rather quickly.

"What – the – _hell_ was that all about?!" Hermione demanded as she climbed the stairs at an incredible pace. Some of the students passing them looked rather alarmed at the look on her and Ron's faces. They had already reached the second floor and were now sprinting up every other step furiously.

"Hermione, that kid had it coming to him, he'd been at it for the entire hour –"

"Right, so a grown man caves in to the stupid taunts of a thirteen-year-old?!"

"You've never had a damn problem about me kissing you before!"

"Right, but that was when it was just the two of us! NOT in a classroom full of teenage wizards among whom gossip spreads more quickly than Ginny can score a goal!"

"So you're saying that you're fine dating me as long as no one else has to know about it?! You've got a funny way of showing that you're still interested!"

"NO! How hard is it to get these things to make sense to you!? I don't honestly care if people know about us, in fact I'd _like_ them to know about that, but just doing it on the spur of the moment because some kid was taunting you means that you were just _using_ me, Ron, and I–" Hermione paused as she noticed that Ron had stopped suddenly beside a door that appeared to be made of the same wood as her wand, vine wood.

They had already reached the seventh floor. Ron, still glaring, opened the door for her, indicating that she should go in. Frowning, she entered a small but high-ceilinged room. The walls were papered with an elegant design. The paper was a dark, midnight blue and had a print of white roses and vanilla flowers that had caught Hermione's eye in a muggle shop when she considered re-modeling her flat since Ginny had moved out. There were no windows, but a great deal of light was coming from several jasmine-scented candles that were floating about seven feet from the floor. There was a small table in the middle that was set for two. Even at a single glance, Hermione could tell that Champagne was her favorite kind from France. The first course appeared to be a salad with her favorite creamy Caesar dressing. The most interesting aspect of the table was a peculiar velvet, opened box that appeared to be facing her place. Still trying to absorb every aspect of this scene, Hermione turned around, gaping at Ron. He glared, if possible, even more fiercely at her.

"Noticed the common theme of everything in this room?! Noticed how we're in the same location as the Room of Requirement, but we didn't have to pace to get to it?! Noticed how I've been acting like a bloody idiot around you for the past few days, always doing the wrong things, saying things that make me feel like I'm sixteen again and I can't seem to control my emotions or actions whenever I'm around you?! You drive me nuts _all the time_, and I _love_ every minute of it, I love _you_, and you standing next to me, whether you're scolding me or yelling at me or snogging me or helping me with spells or whatever you're doing, it's everything about you! I fight with more than I've fought with in my entire life, but you're the one person I _know_ I could never live without, you just make me insane sometimes to the point where I'm making even less sense than usual! I saved up for three months for a ring, and I came up here three hours ago to make sure everything in here was perfect and ensure that we wouldn't have to pace to get into the room again but none of the students could get in and make sure that the elves would send up the food just in time and it's the room where we first kissed and I was GOING TO ASK YOU TO MARRY ME!" Ron bellowed the last bit extremely loudly.

The entire time, Hermione's eyes had not left Ron, but now she saw that he was reaching for the box sitting on the table. He thrust it into her hands. Hermione took out the small ring gingerly. It was small but beautiful; the ring was nearly pure gold with a single pearl, her favorite stone, at the top. She placed the box back on the table and put the ring in Ron's hand.

"So you're…you're saying no?" Ron asked, seeming slightly confused. He had expected and not expected her to say 'yes,' and now that he was getting a seemingly negative reaction he didn't know what he thought.

"No," Hermione told him, not taking her eyes off of his. "I'm not the most romantic or 'feminine' girl in the world –"

"Feminine enough," Ron muttered, remembering the feel of Hermione's curves against his body in the first few months following the war when she would sleep with him every time the smallest sound from outside the Burrow made her feel unsafe.

"But at any rate," Hermione continued, a slow smile spreading across her face, and tears beginning to appear in the corners of her eyes. "Any girl waits for this moment her whole life; I've waited since I was fourteen for you to do this…you'd best do it properly, Ronald." Ron hated anyone addressing him by his full name, but there was a certain ring to it that he loved when Hermione said it. He held the ring between his first finger and his thumb. Getting down on one knee, shaking slightly, his other hand grasped Hermione's.

"Hermione Jean Granger," He said quietly. "I love you more than anything in the entire world, and the moment I met you was the best moment of my life, including the day we got our own chocolate frog cards (Hermione gave a shaky laugh at this). So…if you're okay with it…will you marry me?" He slipped the ring onto her finger and his blue eyes continued to look into her brown ones. Instead of saying anything, Hermione pulled Ron to his feet and began kissing him as she had never kissed him before. Ron broke for a moment.

"So does that mean 'yes?'"

"It means we're definitely not going down to the Great Hall for dinner." Hermione murmured. "If that means 'yes' to you, then I guess we've finally agreed on one thing."

* * *

Okay..soooooo…how was it? Hope you enjoyed! Please review! Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter!

Bonus points if you can guess who this British actress is!

HP Lexicon is an AMAZING resource!


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